326 



THE OLD-WORLD ELK 



to succeed in territory where elk are accustomed 

 to the sight of men, and hence are not timid. 

 The beaters or drivers must be famihar with the 

 habits of the game, and must possess skill and 

 patience, if they would bring an elk within gunshot 

 of the hunter without frightening the animal out 

 of a walk.^ Like many other systems of hunting 

 in Europe, this system is designed to aid sports- 

 men who do not possess the skill and power of 

 endurance needed for successful stalking. 



Another variation, when beaters are few, is to 

 station the guns at a number of trails, while a 

 helper leads a hound to the farther side of a section 

 of good elk cover. The release of the hound is fol- 

 lowed, when he strikes a fresh elk trail, by the music 

 of his excited bark. As the baying draws nearer 

 it tells the hunters to be ready for a possible 

 shot.^° 



Elk drives have long been a means of entertaining 

 royalty and royalty's friends in Sweden. Such a 

 drive, organized at the command of King Frederick 

 1. of Sweden in September, 1737, lasted four days. 

 One wing was 27,690 paces in length, and the other 

 24,675, the base being 9300 paces. The accounts 

 do not tell how many persons took part, but the bag 



» Kapherr, pp. 88-90. Kapherr, p. 86. 



